The Superior Person's Second Book

My friend, Rae, gave The Superior Person's Second Book of Weird & Wondrous Words to me, and I spent a day reading through it, and I loved it so much that I looked up book one on Amazon and ordered it the same day.

It's a book of words, presented with a short definition and used in a sentence. It's snarky, to be sure. Here's a couple of example:

HESTERNOPOTHIA n. A pathological yearning for the good old days. You know—when World War II was in full swing, your children got diphtheria, and dentists used slow drills and no anesthetic.

JUMENTOUS a. Pertaining to the smell of horse urine. So says the dictionary. But what could possibly be pertaining to the smell of horse urine? And how could it so pertain? Is this word really necessary?

Fun, right?

Besides just enjoying reading all the weird & wondrous words and reading the odd ways the author used them in a sentence, I ran across words I would actually like to add to my vocabulary:

KALOKAGATHIA n. A condition or state in which the good and the beautiful are combined. Wouldn't that be helpful? If you saw something beautiful and knew it was also good? Like The Good Witch of the North in Wizard of Oz?

EUMOIROUS a. Lucky or happy as a result of being good. Which, had I been in charge of creating the universe, would always happen.

EPISTEMOPHILIA n. An abnormal preoccupation with knowledge. I might have just a touch of this.

CATACHRESIS n. Misapplication of a word. Never. That I will admit.

QUADDLE v. To grumble. Quaddling sounds so much better than grumbling.

WITZELSUCHT n. An emotional state characterized by futile attempts at humor. I've seen this so many times. It's so futile. And it's hard to watch. Will I remember the proper name for this behavior the next time I see it? Unlikely.

Finally, I leave you with:

SAXICOLOUS. a. Living or growing among rocks. Guys, my husband has been a rock collector since he was a little boy. He has an entire shop filled with rocks. Since I learned this word I have delighted in telling him how happy I am that I am married to a saxicolous man. Saxicolous. Such a great word.